www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy
Abstract
Energy consumption in the residential and tertiary sectors is especially high in developed
countries. There is a great potential for energy savings in these sectors. Energy conservation
measures are developed for newly constructed buildings and for buildings under refurbish-
ment. However, to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption apart from the
standard energy-efficiency methods, innovative technologies should be implemented, includ-
ing renewable energy. Coherency of standard, modern energy efficiency and renewable
options becomes necessities. To approach the idea of sustainable buildings, a few develop-
mental steps are needed, regarding energy, water, land and material conservation, together
with environmental loading, and the qualities of the indoor and outdoor environments.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Energy conservation; Renewables; Sustainable buildings
1. Introduction
0306-2619/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0306-2619(03)00059-X
212 D. Chwieduk / Applied Energy 76 (2003) 211–217
such as: improvement of the building envelope; modernisation of heat sources and
ventilation; introduction of automation and heat metering; improvement of other
installed equipment; there is a need to introduce environmentally-friendly energy
technologies to achieve further significant reductions in energy consumption in the
building sector.
Going towards sustainable-energy buildings, we can consider a methodology of
several steps towards energy conservation and environmental protection in build-
ings. The first is focused on standard methods of energy efficiency, which are eco-
nomically feasible. The second one supports the energy-savings measures, which are
beneficial to the environment. The third one tries to the find equilibrium between
present and future energy needs and environmental requirements, whilst saving
energy resources and keeping a clean environment for future generations. We can
classify three types of buildings according to the appropriate steps mentioned above:
energy-efficient buildings
environmentally-friendly buildings
sustainable buildings
Energy efficiency in buildings is the first necessary and fundamental step towards
sustainable-energy buildings.
2. Energy-efficient buildings
The importance of energy conservation in the building sector provides the base for
the elaboration of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the energy performance of buildings. The Directive indicates the necessity
and possibility of savings through the implementation of traditional and modern
options based on:
The basic rule should still be first to introduce standard well-proven energy-efficient
technologies and then to use new unconventional methods of energy conversion,
storage and utilisation, including implementation of renewables. The future of
energy-conservation measures depends on coherency between economics, energy
efficiency and environment protection.
4. Environmentally-friendly buildings
5. Sustainable buildings
In the case of sustainable buildings, the details of energy consumption and the
environmental effects of the building are performed using a Life Cycle Analysis
(LCA). LCA considers the energy and environmental effects of the buildings, its
systems, elements and materials starting from the extraction through production
and use to the end-use. Embodied-energy analysis is a very important part of the
consideration.
In sustainable-building analysis, stress is put on three most important ‘‘flows’’
through a building, i.e. energy, water, and materials [5]. The idea of conservation is
true for energy as well as for water and materials. Designers of buildings and their
services take into consideration the role of these three components in the process of
building planning, construction, use and decomposition (not demolition).
In a sustainable-buildings strategy, we can find all the elements of energy efficient
and environmentally-friendly buildings. In addition, stress is put on promotion of
quality, which includes:
aim of this system is to control all systems in the building to assure the proper
management of the energy demand, to conserve energy, to improve the comfort
levels including indoor-air quality, and to increase the building’s productivity
through leveraging information. The idea of integrated building services functions is
beneficial from the energy efficiency point-of-view. However, sometimes the role of a
human being in this too technical world can be lost. In addition, economic viable
and embodied energy can be an important issue. In the case of self-energy-sufficient
buildings and intelligent buildings, the detailed analysis of building operation with
elements of sustainable methodology ought to performed, so as not to lose the
impacts of the building on the environment and human beings.
References
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[2] Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance of buildings,
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[4] GBC. Green Building Challenge 2000. Stokholm: The Swedish Council for Building Research; 2000.
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